Empty
by KamokuSenshi
Summary: Momiji is still searching for happiness after the curse is broken, when he's suddenly sucked into another dilemma as he finds out the curse isn't gone for good. Will he be able to put an end to it once and for all?
1. Introduction

I silently walked through the empty halls of my high school. It was the first day of my last year here. Well, in actuality it wasn't empty at all. It was packed with both delighted and miserable students. Some were overjoyed to see their friends again, while others wished they could have had a few more months of sleeping till noon. The Yuki fanclub was mourning the loss of their prince. The student council was hectically trying to get last minute preparations done. There were so many people surrounding me, but I still felt so alone and incomplete…empty.

Everyone else from the Zodiac had found their happy ending. Yuki had gone away to the college of his choice, finally breaking the chains binding him to the Sohma house. Tohru and Kyo decided to move far away together so Kyo could continue training in another dojo. With Hiro by her side, Kisa finally had the strength to face the bullies at her school. Hiro was happily bonding with his baby sister, Hinata, which had brought out the softer side of him. Shigure quit being a novelist and moved back into the main house to be by Akito's side. Akito still has her occasional tantrums, but she opened up to everyone and allowed them all to move on. I'm not exactly sure what happened to Kureno, but I'm sure he's happy somewhere with Uo-chan. Ayame and Mine are happily running their store together, and Ayame has gotten a lot closer to Yuki. Rin is finally letting go of her past with Haru's help, and we haven't seen Black Haru since the curse broke. I think I actually saw Hatori genuinely smiling the other day in the gardens with a teacher from my high school, too. Even Ritsu gave up his cross-dressing habits and is a lot calmer.

But where was my happy ending? I still had to live on my own with no family. Even if the curse was now broken, my dad couldn't just walk up to my mom and announce that I was actually her son. How would he ever explain that to her? He would never risk that, in fear that everything would fall apart again. After the curse had been broken, I had actually gone to see my mom. She looked so beautiful with her hair blowing in the wind. She told me about the family trip, without me of course, they were about to go on when Momo's summer holiday had started. Ahh…Momo. She was the sweetest little girl in the whole world. When Tohru told me that she had been listening to me play the violin and wanted to know me better, I cried tears of joy. My little sister wanted to know me better! But now I've finally begun to realize that being happy over these little things won't do anything. I left my mom that day and haven't spoken to her since. I'm still waiting for my happiness. I knew I couldn't just assume it'll come into my life, but I can't help but feel a little jealous of everyone else.

I'm happy for all of them, I really am, but don't I deserve to finally take off my mask I've worn all my life and finally smile for real? Can't I fill this empty hole in my heart?

**This is just the introduction to the real story. Hopefully I'll continue this with a few more chapters and give Momiji his happy ending. I'm planning on taking a leap into the future with this. And no I didn't forget about Kagura, she'll be present in later chapters.**

**Since I don't really know if this is any good, please feel free to leave honest comments to let me know how I'm doing, or give me any ideas on how to go with this. But please go easy on me, it's my first fanfic! :)**


	2. Shocking News

_5 years later_

The wind blew slowly through the air, disheveling my hair slightly. When we were all still cursed, time seemed to move so slowly, every day was tormenting, but after it lifted, the years just flew by. I was done with college and had started living away from the other Sohmas. I had lived most of my life hiding my pain and putting on a smile for everyone else, but now I was left as an empty shell. I had no emotions anymore. I had no reason to keep going, but Haru, who unfortunately forced me to tell him where I was living, didn't allow me to give up on life.

I had more or else moved on and accepted my fate and built a wall around me. I didn't ever want to go through the pain I felt in the past again. I sat quietly in front of the window in my apartment, waiting for the day to be over so I can go to bed. Every sinlge day was so uneventful and boring.

"Might as well get some work done"

I had decided to become a writer, but I definitely didn't write books like Shigure did. Mine were cold and dark. I wrote them under a pen name, so no one knew the books were mine except for my editors and Haru. If someone who knew me from my past read them, they would never guess it was written by the same person who used to run down the halls of his high school wearing a rabbit backpack with a huge smile on his face.

Suddenly the bell rang. It was probably Haru, who else would come to visit me. I opened the door and the once cow sauntered in.

"What do you want Haru?"

"That's no way to greet family. Well, anyway I just came to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine, now please leave, I'm very busy!"

"Ok, ok. Right after you give me something to eat, I haven't eaten in two days."

"What? Did you get lost on your way over here again?" I sighed and put shook my head. Haru would never change. "Fine sit down. Is miso soup ok, that's all I have"

"Anything is fine. Thanks."

There was silence between us while I warmed up the miso soup. Haru came over to check up on me often, even though I had told him I was past my depression phase, but we never had much to talk about since I didn't like talking about myself or any of the Sohmas.

"Here you go. Hurry up and eat while it's hot. By the way, how's Rin? Isn't your anniversary coming up soon?"

Haru blew on his soup and put a mouthful in his mouth before spitting it all back out. "Ahh…that's hot! She's fine. Is our anniversary coming up? When?"

"You should remember that! I think it's sometime next month."

"Oh, I don't really remember these things since I have two kids to take care of."

"You only have one kid Haru"

"No, no, I have two."

"No, you only have Manami!"

"No, I have Momiji to take care of, too."

I rolled my eyes. "I already told you, I don't need you taking care of me. Take care of your family."

"Momiji, you should really come back. Rin always asks about you and I have to make excuses all the time. Tohru even called the other day and was missing you. We have a spare room in our house and you're more than welcome to come stay with us."

"Haru, for the last time, I'm not coming back and I can take care of myself!"

Haru sighed and finished up his miso soup. "Fine. I'll go now. Thanks for the soup."

I walked Haru over to the door when the phone rang. I wondered who it was because the only people who ever called me were my editors, and I had just submitted my work in yesterday, and Haru, who was in my apartment. I went and picked up the phone.

"Hello"

"Momiji?" I recognized the voice. It was Hatori.

"Hatori-san, how'd you get my number?

"Momiji, I'm so sorry." I could sense the tension in his voice.

"Hatori-san, what's wrong? You sound worried"

"It's your mom, she's had a heart attack."

And then my world came crashing down again.

**I couldn't wait and ended up writing a second chapter to it, too. Please let me know what you think!**


	3. Reunion

"It's your mom, she's had a heart attack."

I silently stood with the phone to my ear, my heart beginning to pound from what I had just heard Hatori say to me.

"W-What?"

"You dad called me and I had her taken to the hospital. I thought I should let you…"

"SHUT UP!" I screamed in the phone.

"Momiji"

"Just shut up!"

"Calm down Momiji, it'll all be…"

"Stop! I don't want to hear it!" I slammed the phone down. I went and sat on my couch, my head between my hands, my elbows on my knees. How could this have happened? It was just too much for me to take in.

"Momiji, what happened?" I looked up at Haru who looked at me with concern in his eyes.

"Nothing, nothing happened. You can go home."

"Momiji, tell me what happened! You wouldn't have reacted the way you did if nothing had happened."

"I said it was nothing! LEAVE!" Haru didn't budge from his spot, determined to find out what had happened. He sighed and sat down next to me.

"Please Momiji, maybe I can help."

"There's nothing you can do Haru."

"Who was on the phone?"

"Hatori-san. Did you give him my number?"

"Yeah" I turned and looked at Haru who looked back at me with not a drop of guilt in his eyes.

"I thought he should have it just in case, you know, something bad happened"

"Something bad did happen Haru."

I told him about what Hatori told me. As I spoke, I felt the tears I had held back for so many years begin to fill my eyes. Haru put his hand on my back as comfort, but then suddenly got up and walked to the phone and dialed a number.

"Hello? Hatori-san?" I looked up. What was he doing?

"Can you please tell me what hospital Momiji's mom is in?...ok thank you. Bye"

Haru turned around and looked at me.

"You need to go see her Momiji. Haru told me the hospital she's in and he's heading down there, too."

"How can I go? She doesn't even know I'm her son." It still felt so painful to say that.

"These things don't matter right now, you need to go. Don't try to argue with me again. I'll take you there"

I opened my mouth to protest, but no words came out. Maybe I should go, just to see if she's going to be ok. I got up slowly and got my coat without saying anything. We left my apartment and took a cab over to the hospital. My mind was blank, I didn't know how to feel or think. I hadn't seen her in so long and now when I'm going to, she's going to be lying on a hospital bed.

Soon we reached the hospital and went inside. We went to the counter and the woman there automatically knew we were from the Sohma family, something about us looking _different_. She told us the room number and we headed that way. I stopped in my tracks when I saw him, my dad. I had left without telling him anything. Was he going to be mad that I had left? Or mad that I decided to come back? He turned and looked in my direction. He looked tired as if he hadn't slept for days. He looked at Haru and then at me, and suddenly his expression changed. He quickly started walking towards me. I don't know what I was thinking but I suddenly turned on my heels and ran full speed in the opposite direction, bumping into some people along the way. Finally when I thought I was safe I stopped and sat down on a seat. Suddenly I saw two feet in front of me. I looked up and saw my dad standing there panting, out of breath.

"Momiji…you…you…" He suddenly grabbed my collars and pulled me up so we were face to face.

"This is all because of you! Everything is because of you! You've ruined my family again!" Tears started to fall down his face.

"It's…it's all your fault…all your…" He stopped, letting go of me and stood there for a while before taking me into his arms. He sobbed into my shoulders.

I didn't know how to react, he had never hugged me before. In all the years he "raised me" he never once hugged me. All he seemed to be concerned about was keeping me away from mom and Momo.

"Umm…dad…it's ok…it'll be alright" I patted his back, trying to stop him from crying. My eyes all of a sudden began to water up too as huge tears fell out of my eyes. I hugged him back and we both stood there hugging and sobbing like fools. Finally he let go of me and he kept his face to the floor.

"Dad, what happened? How did this happen?" He finally looked slowly up at me, into my eyes.

"She found out."

"Found out what?"

"She found a picture of us, the one that was taken when I first held you after you were born…before your mother had found out about your other form."

"What? You had a picture of me?" I never even knew that there was a picture of the three of us.

"She found it and asked what it was, who the baby was, since she knew it wasn't Momo. I tried to avoid the question, but in the end she forced me to say the truth…I told her everything."

"What? Why'd you tell her! You knew it would be bad for her!"

"What was I supposed to do? How was I supposed to explain it?"

"Why'd you even have that picture in the house?" He looked up at me, his eyes looked so sad, so full of pain.

"I couldn't get rid of it, it was the only thing I had that made me feel closer to you. I had always kept it hidden really well, but when you suddenly disappeared, I kept on taking it out to look at it more and more often and then she caught me with it." I was shocked. He had it to…feel closer to me? But he had always ignored me. Why did he want to feel closer to me?

"When I told her the truth, she didn't believe it at first and thought I was playing a joke on her, but when she realized it wasn't a lie, she couldn't take it. It was too much for her that she had given birth to a monster and then had left it to live on its own. Hatori said she suffered takotsubo syndrome*."

We both fell silent after that. I didn't know what to say, how to react to this. My mother had been hurt all over again because of me. Then Hatori came up to us and broke the silence. I silently thanked him.

"You should come now."

"Why? Did something happen?" My dad asked Hatori.

"Her condition is stable now. She's still unconscious, but you can see her now."

My dad quickly rushed away to her room. I was left standing there, not knowing what to do.

"You should go see her, too" Hatori put his hand on my shoulder.

I nodded and slowly began walking towards the room. I was scared. I was nervous. But there was no running away anymore. I wanted to see her. I had to see her. But as I walked looking down, I bumped into a child.

"Sorry" I kept walking until I heard the child speak.

"Nii-san?"

I turned around and saw a girl standing there looking up at me. She had my mother's hair and eyes.

"Momo…"

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><p><strong>* Takotsubo is what happens when someone is under severe emotional trauma. It was a name given by Japanese medical professionals. Also know as "broken heart syndrome"<strong>

**So I didn't receive any reviews T-T but I still feel like continuing the story so I'll just see where it leads me. I'm not sure how old Momo would be right now, but I'm guessing around 11 since she was around 3 when Tohru first met her and that was right before Momiji started his first year in high school, so I think it should add up to 11 or 12. Please keep reading, there's a major twist in the story coming up!**


	4. What am I supposed to do?

The breeze felt cool as it touched my skin. I was now standing outside of the hospital. So much had happened today. This morning I was once again trying to forget my past, trying to move on. Now I was waiting for my mother to wake up. I was waiting to see how she would react to me. I had just had my father open his heart to me. Confess how he used a small piece of paper to feel closer to me, which had resulted in this situation. And, I had finally spoken to Momo. I had seen her in the past, but never once did we speak to each other. And from the little words we spoke to each other today, my mind has become a mess.

_Momo's POV_

I had always wanted him to be my Nii-san. I thought he was amazing. The way he played the violin…it was so beautiful. I couldn't help but notice that he looked like me and my parents. Okaa-san denied it, but I saw it. I wanted to know so badly who he was. I remember once I had childishly asked a girl to ask him if he could be my older brother. Silently in my heart, I had accepted him as my Nii-san. After all these years it was finally revealed that he actually really was my Nii-san. When I found out I couldn't believe it. I immediately began thinking about the things we could do together. Go on trips, do a duet on our violins, trust each other with everything. Okaa-san didn't take it the same way. She was shocked and fell apart. She had apparently rejected Momiji because he was cursed to turn into a member of the zodiac every time he hugged a female.

How could Okaa-san do this to her own child? She was always the perfect mother to me. How could she so easily accept to forget everything about Nii-san? Now I'm so scared. I had been considering confessing to my mother. Telling her my truth. I was sure she would understand, but now…now I know she never would. My truth, about the monster I was turning into. Nii-san just had to avoid females to stay his human form, but for me there is no avoiding it.

_Momiji's POV_

I paced back and forth, my mind full of all the events of today. I scratched my head. _How did I fall into this mess? I was supposed to have moved on. Why do I have to be here? It's not like my family was ever there for me!_ I suddenly felt a boulder of guilt fall on my chest. How could I have such thoughts. My family needed me! I should be trying my best to do whatever I can to make everything right again.

But what was I supposed to do? It's not like I could force my mom to get over her feelings about me. And…it's not like it's in my hands to…make Momo's life normal again. I sighed and looked up at the starry sky.

"What am I supposed to do?"

_Flashback_

"Momo…"

"Nii-san! It's really you! You've come back!" The girl ran and hugged me tightly. I was stunned and didn't know how to react. Two hugs from my family in one day? This was all just way too overwhelming!

I looked down at the girl who had her arms wrapped around me. I slowly put my arms around her, too. She was a preteen with long golden hair. She was fair skinned and dressed like an average girl her age. She reminded me of Kisa, well how she looked like when I last saw her anyway. The only thing I found odd was that she had a long sleeve shirt on and had a glove on her left hand. In this weather you would get hot just by looking at someone wear such warm clothing.

Her arms loosened around me. She looked up at me with her puffy eyes. She had probably been crying over our mom. I just realized the name she had called me by. _Nii-san._ Did she know about our relation, too? I remember Tohru telling me years ago that Momo wanted me to be her big brother, but did she now know that I really was her big brother?

"Nii-san, where did you go? The music suddenly stopped playing. It made me so sad. I was worried that something had happened to you."

"I…uhh…I…" I did know what to say. Should I tell her I escaped like a coward? Or that I tried to forget her? How could I possibly do that?

"Nii-san let's sit down, you look tired." I sat down next to her on a chair.

"Umm…did you go see our…your mom?"

"Yeah I saw her. She's ok now."

"I'm sorry Momo, I'm so sorry for everything you're having to go through."

"Why are you apologizing, it's not like any of this is your fault."

"…but it is…"

"No. Oto-san told me everything after Okaa-san found out. It's not your fault that Okaa-san acted like that. She should apologize to you!"

"No, Momo…"

"What? I'm not saying anything wrong." Suddenly her eyes started to water up. She pulled her knees to her face and covered her with them.

"I can't believe she would do that to you." I wanted to help her feel better, but what should I say to this child?

"Nii-san, I'm scared. I don't want her to reject me, too."

"Momo, she won't reject you. There's nothing wrong with you like there was with me." She shook her head lightly.

"Yes, there is."

"Momo…what are you talking about?"

"Nii-san, can I show you something? I haven't told anyone else yet. You won't get scared will you?"

"No Momo…I won't get scared. You can tell me anything." She looked up at me, a little reassured. Then she suddenly pulled her glove off to reveal what was underneath.

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><p><strong>Suspense! I hope everyone liked this chapter. I mentioned there would be a twist in the story and this chapter was basically just to introduce it. I'll put up another chapter soon. Hopefully there will be more characters in the next one. Momiji still needs to meet his mom, too. There's lots coming up, so keep reading!<strong>

**And I apologize if I got any of the terms for family members wrong. I was just using words I've seen in other mangas. Let me know if there are any mistakes.**


	5. Hatred

**Thanks to everyone who has been following this! I'll try my best to keep you interested!**

**And I just realized that I never put a disclaimer up, so here goes: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters, Natsuki Takaya does. This is written purely out of my fantasy! ^_^**

**Well, here's the new chapter, hope you like it!**

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><p>"Momiji, your mother wants to see you." I turned around, broken away from my thoughts, to see Hatori standing there. She <em>wanted<em> to see me? Probably more like wanted to get it over with. I couldn't help but feel like my problems were just beginning. I followed Hatori back inside the hospital to my mom's room. We stopped at the door.

"She wants to talk to you alone." I looked at Hatori as if he had confessed he was really a female, too. How could I talk to her alone? I don't even know _how_ you're supposed to talk to your mother. I turned to look at my dad who was standing there. He just smiled weakly and nodded. I turned back and hesitantly turned the handle and walked inside the room.

I saw my mother sitting on her bed, her hair all around her, her face pale, her eyes dark, but she still looked so beautiful to me. She looked up at me expressionless. A part of me wanted to run to her and wrap my arms tightly around her. The other part wanted to run away and never return.

_Normal POV_

"Momiji…come here." She patted at a spot on her bed. Momiji awkwardly proceeded and sat next to her, not looking at her face. The tension in the air was heavy. Momiji opened his mouth, but no words came out. His mother finally broke the silence.

"So, have you come back here to destroy my family for good?" Momiji looked up at his still expressionless mother, his mouth hanging open at the question.

"N-no, I…I came to see if…if you were…"

"Dead?"

"Wha..? No! I just wanted to see if you were alright!"

"How could I be alright when I found out that you're my son! A monster is my son!"

"I'm not.."

"When I just found out that my husband's family is cursed!"

"…but…the curse is lifted now" Momiji's voice had become faint and shaky.

"And you think that fixes everything? Did you ever think how this would affect Momo? You wasted so much of my life. Removes so many years from it. They got erased, just like that!"

"I…I…I'm…"

"Spit it out!"

"Y-you chose to have your memories…"

"You don't need to tell me. I remember everything now, all those painful memories are back now. How you were born two months early, and then transformed in my arms. Transformed into an animal! How repulsed I was of you. Enough to have my memories erased. And what? I should just welcome you now with open arms?" Her voice was still calm but her words were cutting through Momiji like a knife. Momiji was quiet now. His fists were clenched, his lip was bleeding from how hard he was biting it. He wanted to leave. Suddenly Momo barged in, right on queue.

"Okaa-san. W-what's going on? Oto-san told me that Nii-san was with you and I got worried."

"Nothing's going on honey, you can go." Momo ignored her mother and walked to Momiji and put her small gloved hand over his.

"Nii-san? Nii-san are you ok?" Momiji said nothing and his head hung low.

"Okaa-san! What did you say to him?"

"I just told him the truth. That he destroyed our family by being born."

"It's not his fault! You should be apologizing to him! You ruined his life!"

"Apologize? To him? I see. I guess I should. Momiji, I apologize I ever gave birth to you and ruined everyone's lives."

"Okaa-san! If this is what you wanted to tell him, then he's leaving." Momo grabbed Momiji's hands and started to drag him out. He followed but suddenly stopped right when he was at the door and finally spoke, his voice barely over a whisper.

"Before I leave, I just want to tell you, a mother shouldn't pick her children based on how "normal" they are. She should love them based on how pure their hearts are." He wrapped his arm around Momo and looked at his mother.

"Momo has that pure heart. Please don't do the same thing to her as you did to me." His mother and Momo stared back, surprised at his words.

"…Nii-san" Momiji then quickly ran out of the room.

"Are you happy now?" With those last words said to her mother, Momo ran after Momiji, trying to catch up. They both didn't see the single tear that rolled down their mother's face nor hear her pain filled words.

"I'm sorry. I'm truly very sorry."

_Momiji's POV_

I ran as fast as I could, not looking back as I heard people yelling my name. I didn't know where I was going, my eyes were clenched shut, but I just had to get away. Finally, out of breath, I stopped and leaned against a wall.

"Momiji?" I turned to see who said my name. Who could it possibly be now?

I saw a grown up version of Kagura standing there.

"Momiji, it is you. I heard what happened and I came as soon as I could. I've contacted Kyo and Tohru, and Yuki, too. They'll all be here soon."

I just stood there. My hair hanging over my eyes. I managed to mutter a 'Thank you'.

Kagura put a hand on my shoulder. I suddenly broke down, tears streaming over my face. Kagura quickly embraced me in a warm hug.

"Momiji, it's ok. It'll be alright."

"She…she hates me. She hates me. She hates my entire existence."

"No Momiji, don't say these types of things. Everything will work out, you'll see."

"No, it won't. My whole life has been like this. I've never been loved by anyone. Why was I even born? I hate my life." The arms around me fell loose.

"I SAID DON'T SAY THAT!" Suddenly, I was flung towards the other side of the hospital.

Everyone turned and looked at me lying limply on the floor. Nurses rushed towards me.

"Oh my gosh! Are you ok?"

"I…I'm ok, thanks" A man helped me get up. Kagura had used her full force on me, so it was a miracle I wasn't unconscious, but I was shaky in my knees. I searched for my cousin and saw her standing at the same spot, her hands covering her mouth. I sighed and gestured her to come over and she ran towards me.

"I'm…I'm so sorry. But you were just being so pessimistic, it made me lose my temper. Please don't be mad at me, it is really your fault." Same old Kagura.

"It's ok, I'm not mad. A little annoyed, but not mad. All my reunions have been bad anyway, compared to them, this one is actually ok. But I don't get why you got so mad though."

She sighed and helped me sit down and sat next to me.

"Momiji, I know you've had it rough, but you were all of our inspiration to keep going. Ask anyone. Your smile and constant positive attitude stopped us from giving up. You were our cute little bunny who made the day just a little better. But now…you just left without saying a single word and, according to Haru, are always just moping around, all depressed." How much has Haru told everyone anyway! I really need to kill that guy!

"Well excuse me for being upset that I'm the only one who didn't get his happily ever after once the curse broke!" I glared at her.

"Momiji, who says you're the only one? What about me? I don't remember any prince charming coming to give me a glass slipper." I looked at Kagura, feeling guilty all of a sudden. That's right. Kagura never got her happy ending either.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you weren't happy either."

"Who says I'm not happy Momiji? I'm happy at what I have. I have Rin who treats me like a sister. I'm the strongest woman I know. I'm educated. I have wonderful friends. So I'm happy at what I was destined with. I learned that from you Momiji." I was surprised at her words. She was happy at such simple things.

"You should be happy, too, Momiji. There are people you love you. I love you. Haru loves you. Tohru loves you. Kyo and Yuki may not say it out loud, but they do, too. And don't forget your little sister who adores you. You're surrounded by so many people you love you, but you're still not happy?" I was at a loss of words. _Surrounded by so many people who love me._

"But everyone else…"

"Everyone else what? Look at poor Tohru, she barely remembers her dad and lost her mom, too. She's an orphan who can never see her parents again. Even if you're not able to get your parent's love, aren't you happy you have the privilege of seeing them? Besides, maybe it's better this way. My mom just kicked me out of the house until I 'learn to control my temper'. Hmph. Why can't she just accept me how I am? And Kyo! Do you know what he said when I spoke to him on the phone? He…." I smiled at Kagura who had forgotten our old conversation and went rambling on about her own problems. I silenced her by putting my hand on her shoulder and got up.

"Come on. Take me back to where everyone else is. I still can't walk straight." I waddled back to everyone else with my arm over Kagura's shoulder. That short talk with her made me feel so much lighter, but my problems still weren't over yet. I still had Momo to worry about. Even if I accept my life the way it is, I don't want my little sister to go down the same road, too. I want to change her future. I _have _to change her future.

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><p><strong>This chapter didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to, but I tried. I was really excited about bringing Kagura into the story, but I think I kind of messed up on her character. Well, I hope you still liked it! Keep Reading!<strong>


	6. The Curse's Revenge

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Fruits Basket or its characters**

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><p><em>Flashback<em>

Momo pulled her glove off to reveal what was underneath. I stared in shock at the deformed lizard-like hand. It gave off a foul stench that made me feel nauseous. I stared at it with my eyes wide, my heart thumping. I had seen this hand before, but not on my little sister, on Kyo. Her hand looked exactly like Kyo's did when he was in his true form. Momo quickly slipped her glove back on. I wasn't sure if it was because she saw someone else coming or because she saw the fear in my eyes.

"N-Nii-san?" I was silent. So this was what my little sister was hiding under her glove. But why did this happen? How did this happen? It couldn't be the curse…could it? No! The curse was broken!

"Nii-san! Say something!...I knew I shouldn't have shown you, now you're going to think I'm disgusting, too." With those words, I was brought back to earth.

"W-what? No. No Momo! I'm not disgusted of you! I just…I just don't understand why or how this happened."

"I don't know Nii-san. It started about 5 years ago." What? That's when the curse broke! When I was freed!

"We were supposed to go on vacation, but Okaa-san ended up not going because she got a little sick, but she insisted that Oto-san and I should go anyway, because I was really excited about it. When we got there, a few days later, the tip of my finger started to change." She lifted her gloved forefinger in the air and looked at it sadly.

"At first Oto-san thought it was just some kind of infection, but when the doctors didn't know what it was and it started to get worse, he knew it wasn't something normal. He told me to hide it from Okaa-san. He said that she would feel disgusted of me if she found out. So I started to wear this glove. Okaa-san told me to take it off a lot of times, but she finally gave up when I didn't listen."

"So…that's it? You never tried to find out why this happened?"

"Oto-san said he would, but he didn't know who to go to. He thought maybe it would go away on its own, but it didn't. It stayed and grew. It's covered my whole left side now. She lowered her turtleneck a little to show the reptile skin on the lower left of her neck.

"The process is getting faster. People at school already avoid me, because no matter how much perfume I put on, it doesn't mask the smell." I hadn't paid attention to it before, but now I noticed the stench coming from Momo despite her layers of clothing.

"Pretty soon it'll move onto my face. Then there's no way I'll be able to hide it. And Okaa-san…she'll…she'll want to forget me, too." Momo dug her face into her knees again.

"No Momo…that won't happen…that won't happen because I'll help you. I'll fix this!"

_End Flashback_

I had made such a big promise to Momo, I couldn't break it now. I had to help her. But what was I supposed to do? Kagura and I finally made it back to our family. I saw that absolutely everyone was there now, including Tohru, Kyo, and Yuki, too. Tohru ran and gave me a hug, while Kyo and Yuki stared at me.

"What happened to your face?" Kyo and Yuki both said in unison.

"Oh, well…I…" I looked at Kagura.

"Kagura, what did you do now?" Kyo snarled angrily at Kagura.

"The boy just came back and this is how you welcome him?" Yuki glared at Kagura.

"I didn't mean it! It was his own fault."

"His own fault? No one could just bruise themselves like that!"

"Stop shouting stupid cat! We're in a hospital." Kyo and Yuki glared at each other. I smiled, because their glares weren't those of hatred, but of friendship. I noticed my dad sitting off to the side, stress covering his face. I slipped away from the bickering adults and walked towards him.

"Dad?" He looked tiredly at me as I kneeled in front of him.

"Oh Momiji! I was worried about you. You just suddenly ran away. Momo went looking for you."

"Dad I need to talk to you about something." I kept my voice low so that the others wouldn't hear.

"Ok, go ahead."

"Dad, it's Momo, she told me what's been going on with her. About her transformation." Suddenly his face got filled with even more pain. He looked away.

"I thought I told her not to tell anyone."

"Dad, you can't just put something like this off. We need to help her! Why didn't you ever go ask someone from the family for help?"

"How could have I done that? Akito was planning to throw Kyo in that prison back then, I didn't want to risk Momo's life! I still remember how Akito slapped you when your curse broke. It pained my heart so much. I couldn't bear to have one of my children be hurt by one of them again." When Akito slapped me? He knew about that?

"Dad, things have changed. Akito isn't the same person anymore, no one is. Look at her. The only person she would ever hit now is probably Shigure, or maybe Ren if she's still around." Wow, I really have been gone for a long time. I don't know anything about my family anymore.

"But…how can you be so sure that nothing bad will happen?"

"I can't be, but right now we don't have any other choice. You waited five years with this problem and now we're running out of time." He nodded without saying anything.

"Nii-san" I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Momo standing there. I turned towards her and put my hands on her shoulder.

"Momo, it's time you showed everyone what's under that glove."

"W-what? How c-can I show everyone?"

"Don't be scared Momo. I'm here for you. I'll protect you." Momo relaxed a little and nodded a bit unsurely. I took her hand and walked towards the head of the family. Her hair was so much longer now, but she still didn't dress too feminine.

"Akito" She turned and looked at me.

"Momiji, I haven't seen you in so long. When you said you wanted to move on you really meant it didn't you." She put a hand on the side of my face and smiled. Now that was something I definitely wasn't used to!

"Akito, I need your help." She looked at Shigure and then back at me.

"My help? With what?"

"Do you know anything about this?" I lifted Momo's hand and slowly pulled off her glove. I heard a few gasps, but other than that everyone was quiet. I let go of Momo's hand and she quickly put her glove back on.

"Momiji…what is this?" Akito looked shocked.

"That's what I was hoping you could tell me." She put a hand to her head and looked down, thinking about something. After what seemed like hours, she finally spoke.

"I…I remember my father telling me something. He told me about some things that could happen if the curse was broken. But he probably didn't ever think it would break so he didn't tell me much."

"Akito, please. Tell me." Any information now was a good enough start. I wanted Momo better so our mother wouldn't ever have to find out about it.

"Well, he said that if the curse was to break then anyone who was a part of the curse, who wasn't accepted by either parent, would have their sibling pay the price."

"W-what?"

"He said the curse would come back with a type of revenge. Out of all the people who were involved with the curse, the ones who had trouble with their parents were me, Kyo, Rin, Yuki and Ayame, and you. Since Kyo, Rin and I don't have any siblings, we were fine. And as for Yuki and Ayame, since they were both a part of the zodiac, they got away with it, too. That just left you Momiji." I couldn't believe her words.

"So…this is…my fault?"

"No Momiji. It's not your…"

"Yes! Yes it is! I can't believe it! I've caused this! My mother was right! I did ruin my family!"

"Momiji, you didn't do anything." Kyo put hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off. I just wanted to be alone now. I walked away. Fighting the tears that were threatening to fall down my face.

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><p><strong>Momiji's going through a mega emotional rollercoaster right now! Kagura just made him feel better and now he's back to the tears. If you want him to feel better then keep reading and let me know how I'm doing so far!<strong>


	7. Finding a Solution

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, but it would be super cool if I did!**

**Here's the new chapter!**

_Normal POV_

Haru went after Momiji to calm him down. Everyone else stood still as Kagura kneeled in front on Momo.

"Momo, how bad is it? Is it just your hand?" Momo shook her hand and showed Kagura her neck by lowering her turtleneck a little. Everyone's eyes widened at the skin they saw.

"It's my entire left side, and it keeps getting worse." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"It's ok Momo, everything will be alright." Kagura kissed Momo's forehead and sent her to go check on her mom.

"Akito, don't you know anything more?" Akito turned to look at Shigure and shook her head.

"Like I said, my dad probably thought the curse would never break, so he didn't tell me much. I'm not even sure if he knew that much."

"But there must be something we can do." Everyone fell silent, as if waiting for an answer to come to them. Then Kagura broke the silence.

"Maybe Momo can wear Kyo's old beads."

"No! That's no solution to this problem! Are you crazy?" Tohru put a hand on Kyo's shoulder to calm him down.

"Well, there's not much more we can do. You saw how bad it is! Momiji already got rejected by his mother for being a cute little rabbit, of course she won't accept Momo when she looks like this. You should know this better than anyone else!" Kyo made a pained face at Kagura's words.

"It's because I know what this is like that I don't want her wearing those beads. I lived in fear my whole life that those beads would fall off and everyone would see my true form. They were a reminder of what I really was. That's why I want us to find a better solution."

"But Kyo, how are we going to find that solution?" Everyone turned to look at Yuki.

"It took generations for our curse to break, but this…we don't know anything about it!"

"What do you know, you stupid rat!" Kyo felt Tohru's hand on his shoulder tighten.

"Maybe Yuki and Kagura are right Kyo. Just for now, she could wear the beads, and then we'll work hard to find a solution." Kyo looked away from Tohru as she spoke these words.

"I'm sorry but, I can't agree to this. I'm going to go look for Momiji." With that, Kyo walked off, leaving everyone else confused on what could be done for Momo.

_Momiji's POV_

"Haru, stop following me. I really just want to be alone right now." I kept walking trying to get away from my stalking cousin.

"Fighting all this alone won't do you any good."

"I don't deserve to have anyone help me after what I've done!"

"You haven't done anything." I turned to face Haru.

"I ruined all of their lives Haru! And you're saying I haven't done anything?" Haru sighed and stepped forward and grabbed my shoulders.

"Momiji, why don't you understand, there was nothing you could have done to prevent this." I hung my head to stare at the white tiled floor.

"Yes, I could have. I could have made my mother love me despite what I was. I could have convinced her that I wasn't a monster. I could have, I could have done something." I felt so numb now. This whole day had been too much. I remembered complaining about the empty feeling I had in my heart, but I would prefer that now over this.

"Momiji, please, don't talk like that. I…"

"Dada! Mo-chan!" We turned to see Rin walking towards us with Haru's little girl. I had only seen her a few times when Haru had snuck her away to see me, but she got attached to me pretty quickly. Mostly because I fed her after she had to go for days without food, since Haru would always get lost.

"No Manami, it's Oji-san."

"It's ok Rin, I taught her to call him that."

"Why? That's no way to call your uncle!" I felt a little jealous watching them argue with each other.

"If you guys don't mind, I really don't want to listen to your argument."

"Oh, sorry Momiji. Rin's just being a pain. OW!" Haru patted his head where Rin had hit him.

"Momiji why don't you come home with us? It would be nice for you to get away from all this tension for a little while."

"No, I don't deserve your kindness. Just go home without me." I continued to stare at the hospital floor.

"You little twit! You really don't like listening to people do you!" I looked up, surprised at Haru's unexpected words and tone. I was even more surprised when I saw Haru's face. It was a mixture of an angry scowl and an evil smirk.

"You think you're always the one who's right? That whatever Momiji says goes!" I gasped in shock, recognizing this tone and face. I remembered it from years ago. _Black Haru._ I hadn't seen this side of Haru in years! Did I really cause it to surface again?

"Haru, stop yelling at him!" Rin unaffectedly tried to snap Haru out of it, but it just made it even worse.

"You're right, it is all your fault! All your fault I haven't been able to spend enough time with Manami, because I had to take care of you, too! All your fault I've had to lie to Rin and everyone else so much! All your fault I have such a bad stomach ache right now! What was in that miso soup anyway?" Haru grabbed me by my collars. Black Haru had been bottled up for so many years, there was no controlling him now! And I was still sore from Kagura's attack. I began preparing for the worst and clenched my eyes shut when I suddenly felt the hands from my collars quickly let go. I opened my eyes to see Kyo with his fist in the air and Haru on the floor unconscious.

"What on earth is wrong with you Haru?" He was about to grab Haru again, but Rin quickly stopped him.

"Kyo! He's already unconscious, just leave him alone!" Nurses rushed to Haru's side and I helped them put him on a bed to take him away. I heard one mutter 'what's wrong with these people?' I watched Rin walking away with the nurses, shooting a quick glare at Kyo. I sighed, we had already made such a scene at the hospital. Visiting hours ended a while ago, but we were able to stay this long due to Hatori's connections. But from all the commotion caused today, we would probably be asked to leave soon.

"Thanks for helping me Kyo, but you shouldn't have hit him so hard. It wasn't his fault, I guess I just finally drove him to his limit" I rubbed my temples, feeling guilty that I had caused Haru to become a patient as well. He was always there for me and all I had done for him was force his dark side back out in front of his daughter. I felt so disgusted at myself and I just wanted to go back home. How many hours had I been here already? I lost track of time. It was probably around midnight now.

"Momiji, are you alright?"

"Yeah, just a bit of a headache."

"That's not what I meant, Momiji." I looked at Kyo, and shook my head."

"How can be ok? My mother hates me, I can't do anything for my sister, and now I find out that I caused this."

"Well, everyone else was suggesting that Momo wear my old Juzu beads."

"W-what? Sorry Kyo, but I don't know if I want…I mean…"

"No need to explain, I felt the same way. But I guess everyone else doesn't see things the same way. They're just trying to help, I guess, but there needs to be a better solution than this."

"Yeah, but what?"

"I may have an idea" I looked at Kyo with a new sense of hope.

"…Shishou, he…he took my beads off once…when Tohru first saw me. Even though it was for a little while, after Tohru accepted that she wanted us to stay friends even after seeing my form, I changed back to a human. Maybe…maybe we can do something similar with Momo." I stared confused at Kyo. What did he mean 'do something similar with Momo'?

"Kyo…I don't understand what you mean."

"I mean, maybe you should show your mom, show her what Momo really looks like. Without the glove, without all those layers of clothes." And my hope fell again. I stared shocked at Kyo. He couldn't really mean this, could he?

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><p><strong>This chapter was kind of lame, but I promise the next one will be better! Thank you to everyone who's been reading! And especially thank you to those who have been leaving me reviews! Your compliments mean a lot to me! I'll try to update soon!<strong>


	8. All My Fault

**I don't own Fruits Basket or any of its characters.**

**This chapter doesn't give any dialogue, but it gives the readers a chance to take a look into Momiji's family's mind. I hope you enjoy it!**

**Here's the next chapter:**

_Momiji's POV_

The room was completely silent except for the faint ticking of the clock. I lay on my bed, my eyes closed, my mind dwelling on everything that's happened. Everyone's words circled around in my mind.

'_It's your mom, she's had a heart attack'_

'_It was the only thing I had that made me feel closer to you'_

'_Momiji, I apologize I ever gave birth to you and ruined everyone's lives'_

'_You're surrounded by so many people who love you'_

'_The curse would come back with a type of revenge'_

'_Everyone else was suggesting that Momo wear my old Juzu beads'_

'_Maybe you should show your mom, show her what Momo really looks like'_

I rolled over on my side and clenched my eyes shut tighter. I didn't want to think anymore. I didn't know what to think about anymore. I knew that as a brother I had to forget my own problems and try to figure something out for Momo. She put so much trust in me, and I had promised to help her. But how was I supposed to do that? This was all my fault. I destroyed my family. I knew wearing Kyo's Juzu beads would give us more time, help us come up with some sort of plan, but for some reason I just couldn't bring myself to accept the image of Momo wearing them. That bracelet itself was filled with generations of hatred, disgust, from others and the cat itself. It was a symbol of being different, and I didn't want to taint Momo with that. But Kyo's suggestion of Momo revealing her truth in front of our mother…it was just too risky. Kyo had transformed back to normal for a little while because someone had seen past extended a hand out to him despite her fear of him and he had accepted that he didn't mind his mother being afraid of him, he just wanted someone there for him. But what if things didn't work out the same for Momo? What if she just ends up broken, lost, empty…just like me?

_Momiji's Father's POV_

I sat on a chair outside my wife's room next to Momo who was swinging her legs back and forth, probably just as nervous and scared as I was, if not more. I looked at Akito, who paced around in circles. I was surprised at how worried she was. I remember years ago when I was going to make one of my secret checkups on Momiji and I had seen her slap him. I remember wanting to strangle her, but not being able to, knowing of the troubles it would cause. I had heard from some of the others in the Sohma family that she had a sudden drastic change in her right after revealing that she was female, but I hadn't believed them. This was the first time I had witnessed it with my own eyes. She seemed so worried for Momiji. I guess despite the curse being broken, she still felt a bond, a duty, towards all the once-members of the zodiac. That curse…that horrible, horrible curse. It broke my family apart.

No. I broke my family apart. I looked around, trying to search for my son. I couldn't see him. He had probably gone home. I slowly slid out the picture that had landed us in this mess out of my pocket. I looked at the last real smile I ever had on my face. I looked at the little bundle of joy that had never truly received his parents love. I looked at my wife, waiting eagerly to hold her child. I let out a sigh and slide the picture back into the safety of my pocket. This was my fault. If only I hadn't let my fear get the best of me and not have allowed the memory erase from taking place. If only I had made my wife seen the beauty our child had within him. If only I hadn't made the same mistake with Momo. I ruined both of my children by making these decisions and keeping these secrets. I failed as a father to protect them. When I had broken down in front of Momiji, he held onto me tightly, he gave me strength, he did what I was supposed to have done all this time. Now all I want is for a miracle to happen so that my family can be happy again. But it there any way I can make this happen?

_Momo's POV_

I looked up at Oto-san. He looked so sad. I saw a small tear form on the side of his eye. I quickly looked away, not wanting to hurt his pride any more by seeing him cry. Mostly everyone had left to go home, except for a few of us who stayed to see how Okaa-san did. Haru Oji-san had to be admitted into the hospital, too, so Rin Nee-san had to stay behind for him as well. I was glad most of them left, because I was starting to feel subconscious since everyone had seen what I really look like. I watched Manami running happily back and forth around the hospital. I remembered when I used to be like that, happy with no worries in the world. Now…now things were different.

I used to live such a happy life with Okaa-san and Oto-san, and all I wanted was a Nii-san to complete our family. Maybe it was wrong for me to wish this, because if I hadn't, then maybe all this wouldn't have happened. No. No I'm happy that I found out about Nii-san. No matter what happens, I will never wish for us to go back to the way we used to be. I want him, Nii-san, to be a part of our lives. Nii-san, I wanted him to be to be right here with me so badly. I wanted him to tell me that everything would be ok. I felt a little mad at him for leaving me here by myself, but I knew that I was being selfish by thinking this way. I felt ashamed of myself for adding onto the worries Nii-san and Oto-san already had. It's all my fault they're having to go through so much more than they need to. Why did I have to be turning into this, this monster? Why can't I do anything to wipe away my family's tears?

_Momiji's Mother's POV_

It's about three in the morning. I knew my husband and daughter are still out there in case I need them. I wanted to tell them to go back home and go to sleep, but I can't bring myself to look at them. I felt so disgusted at myself. I've had so many people come and talk to me. One of them was Satsuki, Hiro and Hinata-kun's mother. She spoke casually with me, whilst walking around the room, tripping here and there, but her words had so much meaning behind them. She told me how her favorite animal has been the sheep ever since Hiro had turned into one in her arms. She told me how she feels so lucky to have a son like Hiro, who takes care of her so much, despite the klutz she is. She said her greatest joy in life was when she got to hug Hiro and Hinata together for the first time after the curse broke. Her words penetrated the defense I had made for myself to justify my decisions. Once I remembered what happened in the past, I felt so much anger towards Momiji. I wanted to go to him and tell him to never show his face to us again. I remembered how hard it had been for me to raise 'an animal'. But after talking to Satsuki that changed.

I felt so envious of her perfect family and I thought of how we could have been the same if only I had accepted Momiji. I remembered how sweetly he used to talk to me. How he always looked so confused, hurt and lost whenever I would question him about his family. I _was_ his family, yet I asked him such questions. While thinking about Momiji, I suddenly felt an urge to see him. I didn't know why I felt this way. I hated him, right? He forced me into erasing my memories, yet despite this, I wanted to see him, talk to him, hold him in my arms. Why hadn't I ever felt this before? Maybe it was because I have experienced the loving bond between a mother and child with Momo that I didn't understand when I had rejected Momiji. I just remember waiting to hold my perfect child in my arms, and him turning out to be so imperfect. The picture my husband kept hidden with him flashed before my eyes. We were so happy, and we still could have been if I hadn't been so blind to that child's innocence. His kindness. His perfection.

When I found out that Momiji had come to see me, my affection for him, that I had hidden away due to my unjustified repulsion towards him, awoke. I wanted to see him so badly. I asked for him to be sent to my room right away, but when I saw him things turned out different. I saw him standing in front of me, and I suddenly realized the pain he had gone through his whole life. That was all my fault. I caused that. I knew that if I asked for forgiveness he would happily run into my arms and love me unconditionally. But I didn't deserve his love towards me, so I decided to end it. His last sentence he said to me is still repeating in my mind. I'm not entirely sure what he meant by it, but he was right. I should have loved him for who he was, not what he was. But now it's too late. I need to suffer the way I made him suffer. I live in pain the rest of my life knowing that I have another child in the world who hates me. So I told him words as sharp as a blade to break him. It's better this way. It's better for him to move on and for me to live with the consequences of my actions. But am I making the right choice?

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><p><strong>I hope you guys enjoyed taking a look at what they're all thinking, especially Momiji's mom. I still haven't decided how I exactly want to solve Momo's problem, so if you guys have any suggestions, then let me know. And does anyone know if they ever said Momiji's parent's names? I don't think they did, so I'm not sure if I should just give them a name myself. It sounds a bit odd having them refer to each other as 'my wife' and 'my husband'. Let me know what you guys think about the name issue and about this chapter! Thanks for reading!<strong>


	9. Ringing Phone

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Fruits Basket characters!**

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I was having a major writer's block, had a lot of studying to do, and to top it all off, I barely had any internet connection. It's a little shorter than usual, but here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

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><p>Everyone was anxiously waiting for Momiji to return. After he left, four days had passed, and he never came back. The family waited in front of his mother's door. She was getting discharged now and with her back in the house again, it was going to be harder to come up with a solution for Momo. Everyone knew how hard being different, being a monster, felt. They wanted to help her, but how could they when her brother, the one who supposedly was most worried about her, refused to answer his phone or even open his door when Haru, now white again and discharged, went to get him.<p>

"How could Momiji be so selfish! I thought he cared about his sister!" Kyo pounded his fist into the wall.

"Calm down Kyo, your anger isn't going to do anything. He has a lot on his mind right now." Kyo sadly looked at his adoptive father and nodded. They turned to look at the child who was suffering through this all.

Momo just sat silently, staring at her gloved hand. If her mutated skin grew even a centimeter more, it would be visible despite her turtleneck. She felt rotten about dragging her Nii-chan into this, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel hurt by his absence. She looked up to see her mother finally walk out of her room, bitterly allowing her father to help her walk. With one last glance to the front door of the hospital, in hope of seeing Momiji bursting through them, everyone left to sign the papers to get her checked out. They walked down the cold, white halls. They all had become so sick of being there.

"Akito are you sure your dad never said anything else?"

"Shigure, I already told you, the curse was generations old. He probably didn't know much anyway and even if he did he didn't think it was necessary to tell me since no one thought the curse would ever end."

"But isn't there any way you could find out? Any sort of, I don't know, book or something?"

"Yeah Shigure, some idiot author like you decided to write a little book about our curse."

"That hurts." Shigure pouted at Akito, who suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"Wait, Shigure, I think…I think I might…I have to go!"

"Wait Akito! Akito, where are you going?"

_Momiji's POV_

Haru and Hatori had come to my apartment several times, but I didn't open the door. It's not like I didn't want to, but I felt so dead right now. I couldn't move a muscle. I barely had eaten in the past few days since I didn't have the strength to make it to the kitchen. I felt so drained of my energy. My mind was loaded with thoughts that I couldn't find a solution to. I didn't want to face Momo again when I couldn't do anything to help her and the air in that hospital had become so suffocating to me. My answering machine was full of messages from my family asking me to come back, telling me that my mother was getting discharged, begging me to not do anything drastic.

All I could do was stare at my white ceiling. I turned my head slightly to look at the time. 2:00pm. I looked back up, my eyes following the blades on my ceiling fan. Watching it made me drowsy and I shut my eyes momentarily, but was suddenly interrupted by the phone ringing. I turned to look at the clock again. 3:00am. Had I really slept that long? My eyes wandered to the phone, knowing that one of my family members was on the other line, but would not be able to leave a message. I sighed, ignoring the ringing until it stopped. I shut my eyes again, but then the phone started ringing again. This continued on for a while. Around the seventh time I finally struggled to get up and stumbled over to the phone.

"What?"

"Momiji? Is that you?" It was Akito's voice. Did everyone have my number? So much for living secretly.

"Who else would it be?"

"Momiji, I was looking through some of the old scrolls from the main house's old library."

"Yes, and?"

"I…I found something."

"Something? Like what?" I was slightly curious about what Akito had found to make her call me so many times.

"Well it was written in an old script and I had to translate it. It's a little vague and confusing but it may have to do about Momo's condition. I may have found a way to cure her." I paused at her words. Had she really said that?

"What? Akito! That's great!"

"Well, it's not that great." I could hear the pain in her voice.

"Momiji…it requires a…a sacrifice."

"Sacrifice? What kind of sacrifice?" The silence on the other end told me I wasn't going to like it.

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><p><strong>I'm so terrible! I keep making things for Momiji so much worse! Well, let me know what you guys think! I'll try to update soon!<strong>

**And once again, thank you to the wonderful people who have reviewed, added my story to their favorites, or are just reading this. Means a lot! :)**


	10. The Sacrifice

**Disclaimer: Do I really need to say this every time? Oh well, I still don't own fruits basket.**

**Yay! This is my 10****th**** chapter! Hope it's good!**

Akito's silence was making me more and more anxious. I could hear Akito stuttering a little bit, as if trying to find the right words to say to me.

"Akito, just tell me. What do we need to do to help Momo?" Akito took a long breath. It was surprising really, to see Akito, the one who used to scream her head off and say whatever she pleased without a worry of how it affected others, be so concerned that she was at a loss of words.

"Momiji…" She took another breath.

"I read through the scroll carefully, to find any other way, but there just isn't one."

"It's ok Akito, I'm willing to do anything." I meant those words, this was my little sister we were talking about.

"Momiji…according to what it says here…for your sister to get better, you need to…ummm, y-you..."

"Just spit it out! Please!" Akito's way of talking was just making me more nervous. I couldn't take it anymore.

"You need to…be removed Momiji…removed from your family." I fell silent. What was that supposed to mean? Removed? What does she mean removed?

"I…I don't understand what you're saying." My voice came out as a whisper.

"Momiji, for your sister to get better, we need to perform a ritual. A ritual that…that'll make it as if you were never a part of our family. It's a sacrifice of your identity, your bonds with everyone. Everyone you're related to…by blood, will forget you completely, and unlike your mother's memory, which came back, there'll be no way for us to ever remember you again, since it'll be more than just a memory erase, you would be…completely removed from your family, as if you were never born. Because if you were never born…your mother wouldn't have ever had the chance to reject you….Momiji?" My throat was dry. My ears were pounding. My legs felt weak. My mind was spinning. They would all forget me, every single one of them. Haru wouldn't come to check on me anymore. Kagura would never send me flying across the room again. Momo would stop calling me Nii-san.

"Momiji, I understand this isn't something that is easily done. You don't have to do this. I can still keep looking for a…"

"What about me?" I interrupted Akito suddenly. I had to know all the details.

"What do you mean?"

"Will I…will I still remember?"

"I don't know…the scrolls don't say too much further than that. You may or may not."

"So it'll be the entire Sohma family?"

"Yes, and your mother, since you're related to her by blood, too, but people outside of your family would be unaffected."

"A-and what about the curse? Would this...put an end to it, for good?

"As far as I know, yes, it would. But Momiji, I just thought I should let you know. You don't have to…"

"I'll do it."

"What?"

"I'll do the ritual."

"Momiji, you don't have to decided right away, think about it a little."

"Akito, the more I think about it, the more I'll want to avoid it. I have to do this. For Momo."

"Are…are you sure?"

"Mmhmm." I nodded my head, even though Akito couldn't see me. I heard Akito sob a little.

"O-ok, if that's what you want, I'll…I'll let you know how it needs to be done."

"Ok thank you. But Akito?"

"Yes?"

"Please. Don't tell anyone else about this. I don't want anyone to try to stop me, or to be sad for me."

"It'll be our little secret." I smiled painfully and hung up the phone. I fell back into my couch, dazed. Akito's words still roaring in my ears. I curled up into a ball, hiding my face into my knees the way Momo did when she told me her secret. It felt like my heart was being torn apart. I started whimpering a little, but then my cries turned into loud heart quenching sobs. I stayed like that for what seemed like hours. Pouring my heart out through my tears, staining my face with them. I fell asleep like that, consumed into the land of nightmares, being haunted by what was to come…complete loneliness.

The next day I woke up rather late, around two in the afternoon, by the phone ringing. I looked at the caller id and saw that it was Haru.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Hello Momiji?"

"Hi Haru."

"Momiji where have you been! I've been so worried. I've been calling you for like the past five days. Hatori and I even came to your apartment but…"

"I'm sorry Haru, I had a lot on my mind." Haru sighed in a mixture of relief and annoyance.

"Ok, your mother's been discharged. So you don't need to go back to the hospital anymore. But why don't you come over to my place? You still haven't apologized to me for having me get beaten up by Kyo, you know?" I was about to say no, but then I stopped. Soon he wouldn't remember me anymore, soon our relation as cousins would come to an end.

"Ok, I'll come."

"Come on Momiji, just this…ehh? You're agreeing? And I was all prepared to put up a fight. Ok, I'll come and pick you up."

"No it's ok, I'll come on my own, you'll just end up getting lost again."

"Ok, I guess that's fine. You still remember where my house is, right?"

"Yeah, I remember." We said our good-byes and I quickly got dressed and made my way over to his little house.

Once I got there I stood there in front of it, looking at it. It wasn't too big or too small. It was just a comfortable home, peaceful and full of happiness. Manami's bike and helmet lay in the front yard next to the flower bed. I thought about how many times Haru tried to convince me to come to his house, but I always refused. The only time I had come here was when he had somehow managed to kidnap me in my sleep and bring me here. I had angrily went back home right after waking up. I regretted it so much now. I hadn't treasured my family the way I should have. And now I wouldn't have them anymore. I walked over to the door and knocked. I heard some scampering of feet.

"Okaa-san there's someone at the door!"

"Ok, I'm coming." Rin opened the door with a smile. I hadn't really taken the time to look at her at the hospital. I saw now how most of her hair had grown back, not as long as it was originally, but it still blew like silk in the wind. She had much more color to her face now. And she looked genuinely happy.

"About time you paid us a visit!"

"Who is it! Who is it!" I looked down at Manami who was jumping around trying to look past her mother to see who it was. She looked so much like Rin, but she had Haru's eyes.

"Mo-chan!" She ran over and hugged me.

"Hey! How's my favorite niece?" I lifted her up in my arms. She giggled and started telling me stories about her little "adventures" during the day. Rin led me inside. Haru wasn't in sight, but I saw that Shigure, Kyo, Tohru and Yuki were there, too. It felt nice seeing the group together again. They got up to greet me as I put Manami back down.

"Hey Yuki, how's Machi?"

"She's fine thank you."

"Hey Kyo. What's with the cut on your face? It wasn't there when I last saw you."

"I got into a little...'accident'. But you should worry more about yourself than me. Your eyes are all red and puffy. Please, take care of yourself…or else I'll make you regret that you didn't."

"Thanks Kyo…I think."

"Hi Shigure. Akito didn't come?"

"No! She didn't." I turned to look at Rin who stood there with a scowl on her face. I guess she was still bitter about the past."

"She was a little busy anyway. But lookie what I have for you!" Shigure held out my old rabbit backpack. I laughed and took it, thanking him. I turned to see the girl who had broken our curse now.

"Hi Tohru, how…" I stopped in my tracks and looked down at her arms and saw a little blue bundle that I didn't notice before.

"Tohru?"

"Momiji, meet Momiji!" Tohru smiled at me. Shocked, I looked down and saw a little baby boy with orange hair and eyes just like Kyo, but his eyes were big and sparkled and he had pale white skin just like Tohru.

"Tohru…why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, you weren't really around. And when I finally saw you at the hospital it was just…so tense, that I guess it just slipped my mind."

"How does something like that slip your mind? Wait. Did you say his name was Momiji?"

"Yep."

"You named him after me?"

"Yeah, it was Kyo's idea." I looked at Kyo who just smiled softly back. I was filled with happiness. I hadn't felt like this in a long time. I reached out to hold the precious bundle.

"C-can I?" Tohru nodded and gave him to me. I touched his soft cheeks and he smiled a toothless smile back at me. He looked barely a month old. I felt a tug at my pants and looked down to see Manami with an upset look on her face.

"Me still your favorite right?" I laughed and carefully gave the baby back to Tohru. I kneeled in front of Manami.

"Yes Manami you're still my favorite niece, but Momiji is my new favorite nephew." It felt weird calling myself my favorite nephew, but in a good way. Even when I would be gone from the family, there would still be a Momiji Sohma. I smiled at the thought.

"I guess that ok." With that Manami scampered off.

"Ok, I'll set up dinner." Rin left to go to the kitchen.

"Momiji can I talk to you for a while?"

"Huh? Oh, sure Tohru." She handed her son to Kyo and she led me to the hall.

"What is it Tohru?"

"Akito told me."

"Told you wha…" I realized what she was talking about. I frowned.

"She promised not to tell anyone."

"Well, actually, I found her crying alone in a room. When I asked her why she was crying she wouldn't tell me at first, but finally she couldn't control herself and told me everything." I sighed. I guess this was to be expected. After the curse broke, Akito and Tohru had bonded and became the best of friends. It was better that she told her and not Shigure who would have definitely blabbered about it to Ayame or Hatori.

"Well whatever. Just don't try to stop me."

"I won't, Akito told me what you said. So…I won't stop you." I turned to look at Tohru who was starting to choke on her words. She had tears in her eyes.

"Tohru, please don't cry."

"Momiji…I…I'm so sorry about everything that's happened to you."

"Tohru, it's ok. I'm fine really." The words coming out of my mouth didn't sound convincing at all.

"Momiji, don't ever feel alone ok. I'm not related to you by blood, so I'll still remember you. Even if you do forget me, I'll still be your friend. I'll always be there for you. Always." I was at a loss of words for a while but then I smiled. Despite what was about to happen, her words, such simple innocent words, made me feel lighter. I hoped Momo would grow up to be like her. Always caring and loving.

"Thanks Tohru. But I can never forget you. Ritual or no ritual." I hugged her and she wiped her tears as we headed back to the dining room.

"Momiji!" Haru had arrived at the scene and gave me a light hug.

"Hi Haru."

"How do you like my place? You barely looked at it last time."

"Last time?" Rin looked at Haru, suspicious.

"Uhh, nothing! Momiji, sit down and eat!" I looked down and saw a feast on the table.

"Rin you made all this?"

"Hah! Yeah right! She can't cook to save her life. Tohru made this." Rin gave Haru a dirty look. I sat down and took a bite.

"Mmm. It's good." Everyone else sat down and starting eating as well. I scanned the table, looking at each of them, one by one. These special beings of my life. This was the last time I would be eating like this. My last meal with my family. This was my last banquet.

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><p><strong>I had nothing to do so I just started typing and let my imagination flow out and so this chapter turned out pretty long. I hope it wasn't <strong>**too long to make anyone lose their interest. Hope everyone like it. Thanks for reading!**


	11. The Ritual

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket**

**Sorry it's been a while since I updated. I've been really busy. Here's the next chapter:**

It had been a week since I had gone to Haru's. I had fallen into a numbing state since then, knowing what was to come. Akito had called me soon after telling me that she had arranged for the materials for the ritual to occur. I was to meet her at the Sohma residence once night had fallen. It felt strange going back to my old home, my old prison. Although people still lived on the Sohma property, the main house had been abandoned long ago. That's where Akito had told me to come. The old, dark walls weren't very welcoming, but I forced myself to go in, each step feeling heavy. Akito met me at the door and led me to a dark black room with chipped walls and a flickering light. If memory serves right, this was Yuki's old room.

"I figured the main house would be the most private place to do the ritual. And even if they did come here looking for me, Yuki's room would probably be the last place they checked." She looked a bit nervous to be in the room she had once tortured the silver haired boy in and I felt horrible to be the one responsible of having her go through her past like this, but she was right and this was all necessary. I nodded at Akito and we took our places on the floor. There were several pieces around me that were to be used for the ritual. The one that struck my eyes was Tohru's zodiac set.

"Why is this here?"

"We needed a set that included the cat so I asked Tohru if I could use hers." I picked up the little cat Tohru had made to represent Kyo. I was glad she would still remember me once all of this was done. I couldn't bear to have every single person in my life forget me. I barely even knew anyone else outside of our family. The thought of this made me feel stiff and it probably showed. I felt Akito's hand on my arm and looked up at her.

"Momiji, are you ready for this?" Akito spoke in a whisper.

"Yes. Let's just get it over with."

"Ok. It won't take too long."

We lit a fire between us and Akito threw in amethyst stones and scraps of paper with ancient words of darkness and light written on them. The smoke rose up to the ceiling and formed patterns against it. Then she gave me a hand full of tiny red crystals and we both slowly put them into the fire. The more we put in, the hotter and angrier the flames seemed to get. It was as if we were calling upon the demons of the underworld, who would emerge any moment and take us alive. The beads of sweat on my forehead began rolling down and as I put in the last of the crystals I felt as if I had been drained of all my energy. I was feeling nervous and scared, but we had to keep going. Akito clasped her hands together and began chanting words that I did not understand. I sat staring at her, feeling uncomfortable and not knowing what to do as the beautiful language rolled gracefully off her tongue. I sat there watching her for what seemed like forever. As the minutes slowly passed by I waited patiently and turned to look towards the little barred window. The brightly full moon's light dimly shone through into the room and settled near where we sat. I reached out and touched the floor where the light danced around my fingers. My eyelids began to feel heavy and it was getting difficult to hold my head up straight. As my eyelids fluttered, I suddenly started seeing little rabbits hopping all around the room. Was I hallucinating? I fought to keep my eyes open, but Akito's words sounded like a lullaby and the darkness of the room was drifting me into the land of dreams.

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><p>"..ji…miji…Momoji!" My eyes shot open and I realized that I was now lying on the floor. I saw Akito hovering over me. She smiled once I sat back up.<p>

"Sorry, this ritual is pretty boring isn't it? I didn't mean to make you pass out."

"Oh…no, I'm sorry. I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep." I rubbed my eyes and the back of my head. I had probably fallen back pretty hard, because I suddenly had an almost unbearable headache."

"You're still such a kid." Akito still wore a smile on her face, but somehow her smile seemed full of sadness. As bad as it sounds, somewhere in my heart, I felt kind of happy that she was sad for me.

"Akito, how much longer is it?"

"We're almost done. We can move onto the next part of now." She moved Tohru's zodiacs to me and we coated all the zodiac figures carefully with a white powder, all of them except for the rabbit. Akito pushed a plate full of charcoal towards me.

"You need to do this part." I hesitantly rubbed my fingers on the coal and looked at the black covering my fingers. I smeared the black color onto the rabbit. I felt painful to do this. That rabbit represented me and now it was being erased from existence. I set the rabbit back down, not taking my eyes away from it.

"Ok, now what?"

"Now you need to…throw your zodiac into the fire. And once that's done, in about 24 hours, the effects of the ritual will take place."

I sighed and picked up the blackened rabbit again. I looked at it for a while and then looked back over all the rest of the zodiac animals. Yuki, Kyo, Haru, Rin, Kagura, Shigure, even Akito. They would all soon forget me.

"You owe Tohru a new zodiac set." I stood up and positioned the rabbit over the hungry flames. I closed my eyes and let it drop. I waited for the fire to eat up the rabbit, but suddenly I heard the running of feet and a yell.

"Gisela, what are you doing!" My eyes shot open at my mother's name. I turned and saw her standing there. Eyes tightly closed, tears smeared over her face, her hair a tangled mess, still in her night gown, her hands clutched to her chest, with her breathing heavily.

"M-mother, what are you doing here?" She looked up and into my eyes. She opened her fire scorched hands, and there in the middle of her palms sat the charcoal coated rabbit.

"Mother, what did you do? You burned your hands. Come with me, we'll get some ice with that." I grabbed her wrist and started dragging her out, but she stopped. I turned back and looked at her.

"Mo…Momiji, why were you…going to do that?" Her voice was cracking from all her crying. But why was she crying?

"Do what?"

"Erase existence…from your family?"

"What? How do you know about that?"

"I found the scrolls in Akito's room and showed them to Hatori." I looked towards the door and saw Shigure, Hatori, and my father standing there. Hatori took a step towards us, while my father rushed to my mother to see if she was alright.

"Once I translated the scrolls I realized what was going on and told your parents about it and we headed over. She may not realize it, but Akito is actually very predictable. We knew we'd find her here. We came to stop this."

"What? But you don't understand! This has to happen!"

"Momiji" I felt my mother's hand on my shoulder.

"I know everything. Momo told me."

"What?" I looked at my mother, surprise written all over my face.

"She showed me what she's becoming. I don't care. I don't care Momiji! I'll still love her! I won't make the same mistake again. I realize now, I realize how I wronged you. How much you've suffered. I don't want you to suffer anymore. I want you to come home…to your family. I'm sorry Momiji, but please. Please come home. Don't make me forget you again." I stared in shock at my mother as tears rolled down her face. Not sure what to make of her words, we stood in silence, staring at each other. We stood as the moon washed its light over us. It was as if I was an infant again and the only person in my world was my mother. And at that moment I felt more confused than I had ever felt before. I looked at my mother's burned fingers. She had grabbed my zodiac while it was covered in flames so the ritual wouldn't be complete. She wanted me to be a part of the family…but how could I just let my sister turn into a monster? What was my next move supposed to be? What was I supposed to say now? What was the right thing to do?

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><p><strong>I think that the manga had said that Momiji's mother was German, so I didn't give her a Japanese name. I was half tempted to go through with the ritual, but I just couldn't do that to Momiji. Hope everyone still liked it. Liked it, hated it? Let me know!<strong>


	12. Back at the Hospital

**I haven't updated in sooo long. Please forgive me! I've been really busy.**

**I don't own fruits basket; now on with the chapter!**

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><p>Beep-Beep-Beep<p>

We were back in the hospital again. Our eyes glued to the little deformed angelic body before us.

Beep-Beep-Beep

The room was full of sobs and reassuring words.

Beep-Beep-Beep

No one was reassuring me.

Beep-Beep-Beep

That beeping was driving me crazy. Why couldn't she open her eyes already?

FLASHBACK:

"Please come home. Don't make me forget you again."

As my mother had said those words then entire room had fallen silent. They all waited for a response from me, but no words flowed out of my half hanging mouth. My mind was clouded.

"Momiji?" My mother put her burned hand on my arm.

An elevator style tune started playing in the background. We turned to look at Hatori flipping open his cell phone.

"What is it Kagura?...Oh. She didn't hit her head did she?...Ok, put her on a bed and we'll be right over."

Hatori turned off her phone and looked at us.

"Kagura said she was playing with Momo when she suddenly collapsed."

"What?" Both my parents spoke in unison.

"Kagura said she caught Momo before she fell to the ground so she isn't hurt but we better get going to see how bad it is."

My parents hastily nodded at Hatori and ran towards the door, leaving me behind…again.

"Akito put out that flame." Akito looked at Shigure and then glanced at me. I just looked back, still numb from the overload of the current situation.

"Now Akito!" Akito quickly picked up a pot of water and put the fire out. She slouched and hung her head and walked towards Hatori and Shigure, like a child about to be scolded by her parents. They all walked out the door while I stood there, my eyes on my feet. Finally, I followed them out.

END FLASHBACK

When we had gotten there, Momo was far beyond pale, she was ghostly white with veins bulging out. Her skin on her face almost seemed transparent and I felt if I touched her, it would fall off to reveal the muscle beneath. Kagura had taken off her layers of clothing to keep her from over-heating so that she was only wearing a t-shirt and some kakis. Her now exposed deformed skin was peeling and an even more grotesque color. The smell in the air was horrible. Hatori and my mother were the only ones who overlooked their nausea and ran to Momo's side. According to Hatori, her hearting was beating too rapidly for a human.

We called the hospital and an ambulance came to get her. The nurses stopped short in their steps when they saw Momo's appearance and the smell crept up their nose, but upon Hatori's orders, they professionally ignored it all and took her to the hospital. The doctors didn't know what to do. They had never seen anything like this before. They did what they could to slow her heartbeat, but told us she had fallen into a coma.

When we were finally allowed to see her, my mother burst into tears, murmuring words I couldn't make out. My father tried to sooth her by massaging her shoulders, while I stood on the other side of the bed staring down at Momo.

Beep-Beep-Beep

I put my hands to my ears and shut my eyes. I didn't want to be here anymore. I just wanted everything to be the way it was before. No. I wanted everything to be the way it should have been. Us living as a happy family. No curse. No hospitals. A hand on my shoulder brought me back to reality.

"Momiji, it's going to be alright."

I turned to see Kagura. She had looked like she was on the brink of insanity when we had come home. She thought she was responsible to make Momo like this. They had been playing tag and apparently she had just tagged Momo before she passed out. She thought she tagged her too hard, but Hatori had told her that couldn't be the case. Kagura looked fairly like herself again now, but her eyes were puffy.

"No, nothing will be alright."

I said that and walked out of the room. No one stopped me. The stress was making my head hurt. I sat down on one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs and leaned my head back against the wall and shut my eyes.

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><p>I was walking through darkness.<p>

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

No one answered and I figured I was alone. I tried reaching out to grab something, but to no avail. I walked in the blackness like a blind man. I fingers finally touched something flat and the room suddenly turned white. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the brightness. When I could finally see, I saw there was a door on the others side. I walked towards it, but the closer I got, the farther it seemed to get. Typical. Gravity seems to shift as my feet were shifted towards the wall. The room was spinning and the door wasn't any closer. My feet were on the ceiling now and suddenly gravity went back to normal and I fell to the ground with a thud and everything was dark again. I sat up and a light turned on so I could see the door right in front of me. Sitting on my knees I reached out and pulled the door open. There was a corridor of rooms inside. I opened the first one and there was a woman inside with a rabbit in her arms. She shrieked and I quickly slammed the door shut and put my hand to my heart. _What was that?_ I opened the next door and there was a little boy being scolded by his mother, hatred in her eyes, for spilling his juice on the floor. The next one had a middle school boy in his uniform sitting by himself in a kitchen staring outside a window with a plate full of untouched food in front of him and a rabbit backpack leaning against a table leg. The fourth one had a tired man typing away on a computer in a dark apartment. I hesitantly opened the last one and saw a woman with her back to me.

"Excuse me." I called out to her, hoping she could tell me where I was.

She turned and I gasped as I saw her monstrous face. I took a step back, my heart beating fast.

"Nii-san, don't leave me." She reached out to me.

My eyes flew open and I gasped. I saw that everyone else in the waiting room was staring at me. An old woman put her hand on my head.

"Are you ok sweetie? It looked like you were having a pretty nasty dream right there."

"Here have some water." A man handed me hit water bottle. I drank the water and thanked them both.

The dream's images repeated in my mind. _Nii-san, don't leave me. _That voice. It was mature like a woman's, but I knew it was still Momo's.

"I won't leave you Momo, I won't." I whispered to myself and headed back to her room.

It had been hours since I had left but when I stepped back in, I saw that everyone was still where I left them. But Momo looked so much worse. There were dark circles around her eyes and her fingernails on her normal hand were turning purple.

"Can everyone give me a second alone with Momo please? I need to talk to her." Everyone looked sadly at me.

"Momiji, she's in coma. She can't hear you."

"Hatori-san, please, can you just give me a few minutes?"

He nodded and guided everyone out. I went and sat in front of my little sister. I took her hand in mine gently, scared that it would crumble away to pieces.

"Momo. Momo can you hear me? Even if you can't I have to tell you something. I was going to do something that was stupid. I thought I was doing it to help you. But now I realize I was just doing it to run away from it all. If everyone forgot me, I would be alone and it would hurt. But it wouldn't hurt as much as watching everything unfold in front of me. I think deep inside I wanted the ritual to make me forget, too. I was dumb. I was selfish. When mom and dad ran out to be with you, I actually felt jealous. Can you believe that? I was jealous that they went to you when you fainted…But I won't leave you now. No matter how you are, we still love you. You can wear Kyo's bracelet if you want to, but even if you don't, I'll hug you every day and be the brother you want me to be. Mother said she'll still love you, too. So please wake up Momo. Please."

I rubbed the back of her hand. I felt so cold.

Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeeeppp.

I flung my head up at the sound. I eyes opened wide at the straight line I saw there.

Beeeeeeeeeeppp.

I sprung off of the chair and dropped Momo's hand and raced to the door.

"N...san."

I had my hand on the knob and froze.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Ni…an…N…san"

I turned back to look at the little body lying on the bed, strapped to several wires.

"N…Nii-san…"

She slowly lifted her hand slightly and reached towards me. I went back to Momo's side quickly and took her hand again. She opened her eyes a little and looked at me.

"I'm here Momo, I'm here."

The doctors came back in to check if everything was ok and rushed over when they saw that Momo was awake. They quickly pushed everyone else out, except for Hatori, to do some tests. We waited and watched doctors and nurses going in and out. Time moved so slowly. Finally, the doctor stepped back out with a beaming face. My father didn't wait a second and took with by the shoulders.

"How is she?"

"She's absolutely fine. She started picking up a fever while we were doing tests and a nurse gave her a sponge bath. Her…skin problem washed right off.

"Washed…off?"

"Well, the layer on top seemed to be dead and we were able to scrub it off. Her skin is slightly sensitive now, but other than that everything with her in completely normal. You may go see her now. Hatori-san is with her now."

My father let go of him and we hastily made our way inside. We saw Hatori and Momo laughing over something when we came in. Momo still looked incredibly weak, but her skin was normal. It was a light red color, but still normal. Hatori stood up to make room for my parents who quickly lunged towards Momo. They practically squeezed their daughter to death and drowned her in kisses. Hatori walked towards the door but stopped by me and put his large hand on my shoulder.

"Good job Momiji." He smiled at me and walked out, giving us some privacy.

I looked towards my family. My mother extended her hand towards me.

"Come Momiji."

I walked over and my parents pulled me into their group hug as well. As I stood their tangled in their arms I felt a wave of some strange feeling wash over me. But I couldn't tell what it was. They finally let go when we heard someone say, "Smile!"

We turned to see our large family standing by the door. Shigure had a camera in his hand. We all smiled and he snapped a photo of us.

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><p><strong>I feel like I rushed this a bit, but I tried. What did you think? Good? Bad? Review and let me know!<strong>


	13. Completed Heart

**Alright, I didn't want to keep everyone waiting to see how everything turned out, so here's the ending to the story. Honestly, I feel sad that it's ending so soon, but I can't bear to cause Momiji any more trouble, even though I have several dramatic scenarios in mind. I hope everyone enjoyed this while it lasted. Please keep a lookout for my future stories, too.**

**I don't own fruits basket. **

**Enjoy the ending!**

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><p>The floor creaked when I stepped on it. I was walking outside our house on the wooden floorboards in search for that one person. Honestly, he was like a little bunny that got lost in the tall grass. I shivered due to the cold. I had gotten used to wearing all those layers and now that I had no reason to wear them, I felt the chill of the summer night breeze right to my bones. My eyes searched around. I could hear the laughter of my parents nearby. They had gotten so much happier than they had ever been ever since we all came back home from the hospital. But they weren't the people who I was looking for so I continued my search. The breeze blew again, causing several early fall leaves to get caught in my hair. I groaned and started pulling them out. I heard a chuckle behind me. I spun around on my heels to see him standing there.<p>

"Let me help you with that." He reached one of his hands out and removed all the stray leaves and tucked my hair behind my ear. His other hand had a picture in it. I knew which one it was. He was always carrying it around as if it was too precious to let go. As if that moment would suddenly be lost.

"Nii-san, you know, things are ok now. You can put that picture down. I look hideous in it anyway. We'll take a better one. A professional one at a studio." He smiled softly at me and shook his head.

"It's not just a picture. It's the first picture of all of us…together…as a family. That makes it special. More precious than anything I've ever had." He brought it up and gazed at it. We both sat down on the cold floor and studied it together.

"We all look miserable in it though. I'm all pale and Okaa-san's eyes are puffy and Obaa-san's hair is a complete mess. And you…well, you look…confused."

"That's because I was confused. Everything just happened so fast. Within a few days everything in my life changed. But I don't think we look miserable in it. Just look at my smile." I took the picture in my hands and observed it more closely. Nii-san leaned back on his palms and looked up at the starry sky.

"It looks…real."

"Exactly. I don't think I've ever had a genuine smile in my life. I smiled a lot as a child, but it always had a hidden pain behind it. This was the first time I naturally smiled without thinking. And now I just want to forget everything and start new. Start fresh now that my heart is...so complete." He turned his face to me. He looked so much different than that first time I saw him. He looked so relaxed and at ease.

"Nii-san, let's play the violin together sometime." He let out a soft chuckle.

"Yes, definitely. Whenever I come to visit we will."

"What? What do you mean 'visit'?"

"Momo, I'm a grown man. I need to go back to my apartment and get back to work. I have a lot of deadlines coming up and I want to surprise my readers with the new me. I've talked to mom and dad and they were reluctant at first but finally agreed. But don't worry; it'll be like I'm right here. Whenever you need me I'll be there." I handed him back the picture and turned away; a little angry that I was the last to know this. I thought we would be a big happy family, but I guess Nii-san knows best. He probably noticed the look on my face even in the dark, because he suddenly ruffled my hair.

"Momo."

"Yeah?"

"I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Mmhm."

"What exactly happened that day when you were at the hospital?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I just…I don't know…I've been wondering about it."

"You know, I really shouldn't tell you, because you didn't tell me about you moving back until now. But…I'll still tell you…_if_ you promise you'll tell me everything from now on."

"Of course Momo. Just tell me what exactly happened."

"Fine, I'll start from the beginning. Well, when I had shown Okaa-san my skin, she had screamed…She ran away from me, and then when Hatori told her the severity of the situation with you, she quickly left with him. The whole time I thought that she had rejected me. Those thoughts were in my mind and I started feeling really sick to my stomach. Before I knew it, it all turned black." Nii-san let out a sigh.

"I'm really sorry Momo. I've caused you so much trouble."

"No Nii-san. Not at all. We're family, and family doesn't cause each other trouble." He didn't say anything for a while, but then finally spoke in a whisper.

"So what the doctor said…"

"What the doctor told you is true in its own part, but there's more to it. While I was out, I had suddenly started hearing you speak to me and you told me how everything would be alright. I felt something strange inside me then. After you had left, that…part of me quickly started growing and I was scared that it would overtake me, but the entire time your words echoed through my mind. Then my body started burning and the doctors didn't know what to do about it." I stopped for a while, reminiscing on my memories.

"And then?"

"Then, without thinking, I repeated your words out loud; that my parents still loved me and everyone was there for me, and then that part suddenly transformed into…something else…that the doctors were able to scrub off. I don't really understand it all myself, but all I know is that you saved me Nii-san."

"Don't be silly. I didn't do anything. But you know, it's strange how things work. The curse was formed around a bond, but the bond between our family was able to silence it forever and just…scrub it off. I thought the curse would be more complicated than that."

"Are you complaining?" He chuckled again and shook his head.

"You cold?" I nodded at him.

"Then let's go inside. Haru says I make pretty awesome hot coco. Speaking of him, do you want to go with me to visit him and his family tomorrow? Tohru, Kyo and mini me will be there, too."

"Sure. We need some sister-brother bonding time for the years we missed out on anyway."

He let out a laugh and led me towards the security of our home. I noticed the photo still in his hand. I smiled at this and ran inside to go get my violin.

* * *

><p><strong>I just wanted the last chapter to be a cute little inside look on Momiji's new formed relationship with his baby sister. Hope you all liked this chapter and the rest of the story, too. And thanks to all of you who followed this story and took the time to review it. I really appreciated all the comments I got! It really encouraged me to keep going. Well, good-bye for now, but expect more stories from me! :)<strong>


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